Comments on: How should Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Use Twitter and Why?

By: metzgerbusiness

metzgerbusiness — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 21:26:48 +0000

@WhiskAwayNic Choa does now have a presence on Twitter They are @childrensatl. I hope you have great success with tasteofthehighlands.

By: WhiskAwayNic

WhiskAwayNic — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 20:32:39 +0000

I actually came across this post when I googled 'CHOA on Twitter', hoping they had a presence! We are working on the Taste of the Highlands event to raise money for CHOA and would love to feature them more via our Twitter presence.
The event is coming up in May, should be a fun way to support CHOA! http://www.tasteofthehighlands.com/

By: metzgerbusiness

metzgerbusiness — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 02:02:34 +0000

Trey, Thanks for you thoughts and sharing with CHOA. I'm not sure who, where or how but they did see this post and promis to be present soon. I'm very excited to see what's comming and hope they keep us informed so we can be a voice for them.

By: Captain Planet Fdn

Captain Planet Fdn — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 06:36:22 +0000

That is a very wise post indeed. All nonprofit organizations should have some presence in social media. Every 501c3 has folks that will speak well of them, be their advocate and spread the word about what they do. Especially with the good works that CHOA does, I know that folks would be eager to hear more stories from patients and staff.
I know a couple folks over at CHOA and will share these posts with them.

Trey Burley
I handle the tweets and some of the other social media aspects for Captain Planet Foundation.

By: metzgerbusiness

metzgerbusiness — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 03:36:45 +0000

Julia thank you for coming by and commenting. I read your blog and was very moved by your story. Wouldn't it be amazing if Children’s implemented the ability to facilitate stories like yours? If they could share the successes they could help both put parents at ease and increase donor dollars.

By: metzgerbusiness

metzgerbusiness — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 03:33:31 +0000

James thanks for coming by and commenting. As usual you add so much to the conversation and you make a great point. CHOA being on a limited budget could gain so much for a presence in social media at such a comparably low cost. Additionally there media campaign in Atlanta is omni present and must cost big dollars. I imagine diverting a small portion of the costs from that campaign to a social media strategy could provide comparatively huge returns.

By: metzgerbusiness

metzgerbusiness — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 03:27:25 +0000

Nicole,

Thanks so much for your comments. I agres Children's is huge and they currently have no social presence. There are so many opportunities for them and I love the idea of interviewing parents and doing video. Realistically CHOA should have a blog, should have many of their employees tweeting and should be sharing so much of what they do on facebook as well. That said since they haven't entered any area of social media I wanted to make a suggestion that was actionable and measureable. By the way I'm with both you and James in offering my services.

By: Nicole Galletta

Nicole Galletta — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 02:21:45 +0000

I too, think that CHOA could benefit from using social media tools – specifically Twitter and YouTube. It would be so awesome to see them have a YouTube channel showcasing success stories – simply to help put a face to the name. Showcasing new technology, doctors, staff, and of course patients and their families. Reading about what CHOA is doing is one thing, actually seeing it is another. I am sure it would make worried parents much more comfortable and it would make CHOA more familiar to the public – on a whole new level. They could even do videos specifically for the kids to make them more comfortable – we sometimes forget hospitals can be a such a scary place for the kiddos.

The benefits of Twitter are boundless – informational, conversational, it's indeed relationship building. And it's a great tool to help w/ fund raising as well. I agree with Julie Roberts below – I, for one, love hearing success stories! I know I am not the only one.

By: James Ball

James Ball — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 02:04:50 +0000

This is a great topic Kevin! I took just a few minutes to see if I could find CHOA anywhere. There is a Facebook group (not a fan page) with 111 members at http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/group.php?g…

I totally see your point, and I couldn’t agree more that a place like CHOA could, and SHOULD be very present on the social web. One of the keys to success in social media is the passion about a topic that can be conveyed. Passion is a natural conduit for the spreading of a message or a cause, and I can’t imagine anything more passionate than concern for the health and well-being of children.

I think that CHOA needs much more than a presence on Twitter, though this would be a great place for them to get involved as quickly as possible. I can understand the needs and budget restraints of an organization such as this. So to me, social media seems like it would be a great way to spread the word about the great work and needs of this Atlanta asset.

Thank you for bringing this up today Kevin, well done! If anyone from CHOA is reading this and there is a real interest, know that I, and likely many others like me, would be more than happy to aid in the implementation of a social media strategy for CHOA.

By: Julia Roberts

Julia Roberts — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 22:08:26 +0000

I couldn't agree more! As a parent of two kids who have had transplants at Children's I'm a firm believer they need to utilize social media. We tweeted our daughter's entire surgery along with a reporter doing our story…and just a handful of tweets came out of CHOA reps – but they were personal accounts of theirs. Probably over a hundred tweets that day alone, all positive, could have been used as a success story.